Local Council Elections on 7 May 2020

[middleenglander]

There are 118 Local Authorities holding annual elections on 7 May 2020 with some 2,613 seats at stake.

* There are elections in 34 of the 36 Metropolitan Boroughs, Birmingham and Doncaster being the exceptions, with 831 seats being contested:
- Rotherham (63 seats) and Salford (60 seats) have whole council elections whilst
- the remaining 32 councils elect by one thirds with 708 seats being fought, ranging from 15 in Knowsley to 33 at Leeds.

* There are 22 Unitary Authorities holding annual elections for a total of 758 seats:
- 3 are new "shadow" authorities, Buckinghamshire with 147 seats replaces 5 current Councils with 236 existing County and District Councillors,
North Northamptonshire with 78 seats and West Northamptonshire 93 seats replace 8 current Councils with a total of 321 existing Councillors
- Hartlepool has whole council elections where the number of seats has increased from 33 to 36
- Bristol (70 seats) and Warrington (58 seats) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- the remaining 16 Councils elect approximately one third of their total number with 276 seats being contested, an average of around 17 per authority.

* There are 62 District Councils holding elections for a total of 1,024 seats:
- Pendle has whole council elections where the number of seats has been reduced from 49 to 33
- Cambridge (42 seats), Gloucester (39), Oxford (48) and Stroud (51) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- Adur (15 seats), Cheltenham (20), Fareham (16), Gosport (17), Hastings (16) and Nuneaton & Bedworth (17) elect by halves on alternate years
- the remaining 51 councils elect approximately by one thirds, a total of 710 Councillors and an average of 14 per authority.

In addition to 8 Elected Mayors (including London), there are 40 Police and Crime Commissioner elections and 25 to the London Assembly. There will also be local authority by-elections which could total between 50 and 100 based on previous experience - a total of circa 2,750 to 2,800 politicians elected on 7 May.

The number of councillors up for election by party is a bit like counting sheep with resignations, deaths, defections, suspensions etc. However I have fairly accurate figures which I will post in the next day or two.

[middleenglander]

As per the post above, there are some 2,613 local council seats up for election on 7 May, most of which were last contested in 2016. The party affiliation of the current councillors, including that of recent past councillors where there are current vacancies, can be summarised by:

Party	Metropolitan     Boroughs	Unitary           Authorities	District           Councils	Total
Conservative	112	110	378	600
Labour	592	207	358	1,157
Liberal Democrat	66	57	148	271
Green	11	12	26	49
Independent	32	12	33	77
UKIP / Brexit	13	1	7	21
Other ^	5	5	41	51
Sub-total	831	404	991	2,226
New Authorities		318		318
Change to number of seats		36	33	69
Total	831	758	1,024	2,613

^ includes localist groups

The ward boundaries for the new Unitary Authorities of Buckinghamshire, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire are based on the old County Council Divisions with each now electing 3 Councillors.   These were last contested in 2017 (at the start of the General Election campaign) and would have resulted in something like:
*  123 Conservatives, 12 Liberal Democrat, 6 East Wycombe Independents  3 Labour and 3 Independent in Buckinghamshire assuming no "split" wards
- there were only 2 Divisions where the majority was less than 5%.
*  60 Conservative, 15 Labour and 3 Liberal Democrat in North Northamptonshire and
*  69 Conservative, 21 Labour and 3 Liberal Democrat in West Northamptonshire
- although there were 4 Divisions in Northamptonshire having majorities of less than 5% and therefore prone to "split" wards.

Thus excluding the three new Authorities and the two changing the number of Councillors, Labour are defending almost twice the number of seats compared to the Conservatives who in turn defend around twice the number that the Liberal Democrats are with all others in total some three quarters of the Liberal Democrat number.

[Khunanup]

Feb 4, 2020 0:54:54 GMT middleenglander said:

There are 118 Local Authorities holding annual elections on 7 May 2020 with some 2,613 seats at stake.

* There are elections in 34 of the 36 Metropolitan Boroughs, Birmingham and Doncaster being the exceptions, with 831 seats being contested:
- Rotherham (63 seats) and Salford (60 seats) have whole council elections whilst
- the remaining 32 councils elect by one thirds with 708 seats being fought, ranging from 15 in Knowsley to 33 at Leeds.

* There are 22 Unitary Authorities holding annual elections for a total of 758 seats:
- 3 are new "shadow" authorities, Buckinghamshire with 147 seats replaces 5 current Councils with 236 existing County and District Councillors,
North Northamptonshire with 78 seats and West Northamptonshire 93 seats replace 8 current Councils with a total of 321 existing Councillors
- Hartlepool has whole council elections where the number of seats has increased from 33 to 36
- Bristol (70 seats) and Warrington (58 seats) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- the remaining 16 Councils elect approximately one third of their total number with 276 seats being contested, an average of around 17 per authority.

* There are 62 District Councils holding elections for a total of 1,024 seats:
- Pendle has whole council elections where the number of seats has been reduced from 49 to 33
- Cambridge (42 seats), Gloucester (39), Oxford (48) and Stroud (51) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- Adur (15 seats), Cheltenham (20), Gosport (17), Hastings (16) and Nuneaton & Bedworth (17) elect by halves on alternate years
- the remaining 52 councils elect approximately by one thirds, a total of 726 Councillors and an average of 14 per authority.

In addition to 8 Elected Mayors (including London), there are 40 Police and Crime Commissioner elections and 25 to the London Assembly. There will also be local authority by-elections which could total between 50 and 100 based on previous experience - a total of circa 2,750 to 2,800 politicians elected on 7 May.

The number of councillors up for election by party is a bit like counting sheep with resignations, deaths, defections, suspensions etc. However I have fairly accurate figures which I will post in the next day or two.

Fareham have got halves elections this year as well.

[middleenglander]

Feb 7, 2020 22:21:26 GMT Khunanup said:

Feb 4, 2020 0:54:54 GMT middleenglander said:

There are 118 Local Authorities holding annual elections on 7 May 2020 with some 2,613 seats at stake.

* There are elections in 34 of the 36 Metropolitan Boroughs, Birmingham and Doncaster being the exceptions, with 831 seats being contested:
- Rotherham (63 seats) and Salford (60 seats) have whole council elections whilst
- the remaining 32 councils elect by one thirds with 708 seats being fought, ranging from 15 in Knowsley to 33 at Leeds.

* There are 22 Unitary Authorities holding annual elections for a total of 758 seats:
- 3 are new "shadow" authorities, Buckinghamshire with 147 seats replaces 5 current Councils with 236 existing County and District Councillors,
North Northamptonshire with 78 seats and West Northamptonshire 93 seats replace 8 current Councils with a total of 321 existing Councillors
- Hartlepool has whole council elections where the number of seats has increased from 33 to 36
- Bristol (70 seats) and Warrington (58 seats) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- the remaining 16 Councils elect approximately one third of their total number with 276 seats being contested, an average of around 17 per authority.

* There are 62 District Councils holding elections for a total of 1,024 seats:
- Pendle has whole council elections where the number of seats has been reduced from 49 to 33
- Cambridge (42 seats), Gloucester (39), Oxford (48) and Stroud (51) have whole council elections but on unchanged number of Councillors
- Adur (15 seats), Cheltenham (20), Gosport (17), Hastings (16) and Nuneaton & Bedworth (17) elect by halves on alternate years
- the remaining 52 councils elect approximately by one thirds, a total of 726 Councillors and an average of 14 per authority.

In addition to 8 Elected Mayors (including London), there are 40 Police and Crime Commissioner elections and 25 to the London Assembly. There will also be local authority by-elections which could total between 50 and 100 based on previous experience - a total of circa 2,750 to 2,800 politicians elected on 7 May.

The number of councillors up for election by party is a bit like counting sheep with resignations, deaths, defections, suspensions etc. However I have fairly accurate figures which I will post in the next day or two.

Fareham have got halves elections this year as well.

Thanks, now amended.